Miscellaneous Knowledge

I somehow broke the default WordPress theme, so I decided to install a new one rather than fix it. Enjoy!

Todays graphics cards (from ATI or nVidia) often have confusing model numbers, is a 3600 better than a 2800? It’s a tough choice. So here’s a quick guide.

Graphics card model numbers commonly consist of 4 digits then a series of letters afterwards.

The first digit is the generation

The second digit is the performance indicator

The third digit is a refined performance indicator

The forth digit is often just 0

So, a 4800 would be 4th-generation, 800 series. That means it’s better than a 4600.

The performance indicator (digits 2-4) can be translated into

1: Intergrated graphics product, very low performance

2: Low performance

4-3: Low-Mid performance

5-6: Midrange performance

7-8: High performance

9: Ultra High performance

So, whats the difference between a 3800 and 4800? Each generation is generally a bump up the table, so a 3800 is roughly equivalent to a 4600 in terms of performance. This is a very rough indicator however and it does vary hugely. If you have a choice, always get the latest generation card.

The lettering after the number is a further refinement. This can be GT, XT, XTX, GTX and so on.  The letter performance tends not to vary too much on the same card.

Some Graphics Cards are now dual-core, on AMD/ATI cards this is represented by X2. Note the difference between a dual-core graphics card and a dual-running graphics card. A dual-core graphics card has two graphics processors on one chip, while a dual-running graphics card can run in paralell with a similar graphics card. It’s best to get a dual-core card rather than two dual-running cards as the dual-card setups (ATI Crossfire and nVidia SLI) don’t always work too well.

It rocks.

I’ll write more when i’ve got some spare time in which i’m not playing it…

Aaah, first post. Good feeling no?

So you’re probably wondering what the hell a blog about Miscellaneous Knowledge is, or perhaps you thought you’d read the first post on here. Quite simply, this is just a collection of interesting facts, methods and odd problems, with a bit of ‘other’ stuff thrown in. The other stuff could be interesting things I find around the web, a little bit of personal life or, well, anything! Hopefully Google will index this and next time you have a really obsure problem, a post will crop up and you will forever bask in my glory (ok, so i’m making the last bit up, but a thanks would be nice).

If you have your own little information tiptbit you’d like to contribute, let me know. It’s always good to have more knowledge.

And now for something completely different – me. I’m a person (last time I checked) and a technology enthusiast (I spend my time around computers). I play a lot of games, mainly source-based ones and 3rd party mods infact, I also have my own game server business which is doing quite well. I also manage a (private) wiki and several game community websites – and thats just the tip of the iceberg.

Enjoy!